FOOTBALL: Perkiomen Valley's Stewart signs with Villanova

Perkiomen Valley senior Rasaan Stewart signed a national letter of intent to play football at Villanova University Wednesday. Stewart, the Mercury's two-time All-Area Player of the Year, is pictured with his parents Cynthia and Chris Stewart. (Photo courtesy Perkiomen Valley athletics)

During his scholastic football career at Perkiomen Valley, Rasaan Stewart evolved into one of the most dynamic offensive talents in area history.

Over the next four years, Stewart will be attempting to make his mark on the other side of the ball, as a member of the Villanova University secondary.

The 6-foot-1, 182-pound Stewart — a two-time All-Area Player of the Year — signed a national letter-of-intent Wednesday to accept a scholarship to attend Villanova and play football for the Wildcats, who compete in the Colonial Athletic Association of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level, formerly Division 1-AA.

As a dual-threat quarterback, Stewart threw for an area-best 2,068 yards and 26 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,204 yards and 17 scores for the Vikings (10-3), who reached the District 1-AAAA semifinals before falling to North Penn.

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Though he finished his PV career with 4,438 passing yards, 2,954 rushing yards and 96 total touchdowns, Stewart (also a standout safety for the Vikings) is projected as a safety or cornerback at Villanova. The Wildcats went 5-3 in the CAA and 6-5 overall under coach Andy Talley last season.

“I’m looking forward to focusing on one side of the ball,” said Stewart, a Pennsylvania Football News Class AAAA first team pick as an Athlete who was named to the Pennsylvania Big 33 team last week. “I know going into college it’s going to be more pass (defense)-oriented. In high school, coming up and stopping the run was more of an emphasis. So better tackling is something I’m going to try to focus on, and I have to fix my form and work on that.”

“I’m excited for him,” Perkiomen Valley football coach Scott Reed said. “He can put his full-time effort into defense. As good as he played for us on defense, playing quarterback just requires a ton of time and responsibility physically and mentally. I can’t imagine what he’ll be able to accomplish now that he can put all of that focus into one side.”

Stewart — the son of Chris and Cynthia Stewart of Collegeville — had also strongly considered Penn State and Pittsburgh before verbally committing to Villanova last month.

“One of the biggest factors in my decision was that I felt like at Villanova I could come in and make an impact right away instead of going somewhere else and having to wait my turn,” Stewart said. “Coach (Talley) will give me an opportunity to compete for a position. And ultimately it’s going to come down to me and how fast I pick up things.”

“The whole recruiting process took a long time, and I’m glad it’s over,” Stewart said. “It’s going to be exciting to get an opportunity to play at the next level.”

According to Reed, Stewart was as comfortable playing center field on defense as he was taking snaps behind center.

“I think he takes that quarterback mentality to the defensive side,” Reed said. “He was very vocal for us as far as getting people in position and making sure they were adjusting to motion and formations. Obviously his speed and ballhawking ability are his greatest strengths back there. He also has an ability to separate the football from people. If he gets an opportunity, he’ll hit you, but he just has a nose for the football and getting it out of people’s hands.

“We had him playing up top as a single safety, but I think if he gets into a Cover 2 where he’s just responsible for half the field, he’ll have a good shot at having more interceptions. And to be quite honest, I don’t think it’s out of the question Villanova will use him on special teams and on offense at some point. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do, and I have a feeling he’ll be playing right away.”